A History of the World in 6 Glasses

"Better to be deprived of food for three days then tea for one" - Chinese proverb.

Another perk of retirement is time to read! Davyd and I now make weekly sojourns to the Whitefish Bay Library. The artwork and murals are bonuses to the great selection of books.

In his book A History of the World in 6 Glasses, Tom Standage artfully weaves the legacy of beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea and Coca-Cola. The history of each beverage is interesting enough, though I also enjoyed thinking about “we are what we drink.”

The story begins with beer about 4000BCE – which naturally followed domestication of cereal grains and pottery - and offered a choice more sanitary then drinking water. I liked the Mesopotamian image of drinking beer out of large urns through straws to avoid sipping debris.

The sophistication of wine, ceremony and politics of tea, ties to academia and coffee and initiation of globalization via bottles of Coke all made this one quick read worth passing on.

The book concludes with an epilogue to water. Safe drinking water is highlighted as key to human rights around the globe and a likely fulcrum for future conflicts. It makes sense that we conserve the most basic of our cherished natural resources. Cheers!